Hebl Shares Story of Moving From Despair to Joy Under the Castle

“My faith started when I was 4 or 5 . I can remember sitting at my grandparents house just praying and asking Jesus into my life. Since then, it’s been a journey.”

Halli Hebl's faith was fostered in the home and grew in Sunday school. In 5th grade, Bible camp started to form her faith more and more. Every time there was a youth retreat, Halli went. It propelled her to be a camp counselor in the latter years of high school.

In seventh grade Halli's seemingly perfect world started to fracture. “We were sitting in the middle of life science class and one of my classmates looked at me and said, 'You're the product of rape, and you don’t deserve to be here.”

Halli says this was a devastating comment for her seventh grade mind. She was already searching for her identity, and now in seventh grade she was set on a path to discern fact from fiction in her story that was told her by her family and friends. She shut everyone out and was filled with anger. She didn’t want to hurt herself, so she came up with a way to release her frustration. She taught herself to play guitar. “It’s still my favorite thing to do to this day."

Two short years after Halli heard the jarring details of her past she was hit by a car while biking. “Well this sucks, I was literally biking to church,” Halli recalled. She says she is lucky because the damage was not severe, and she says she thanks God everyday. “Even though I had my hip reconstructed it could have been a lot worse.”

After surgery to reconstruct her hip, Halli was awarded a settlement from the driver of the car who was texting when he hit her. She quickly realized that her car accident could provide a way for her to come to Hillcrest. She had always wanted to attend, but financially her parents could not afford it. “Every single penny has been totally worth it,” she says.

“Tomorrow will be one year since I’ve come to Hillcrest. I’ve loved it here." Halli has worked through depression and challenges that have come with her story. Her family has been incredibly supportive, cheering her on as she has attended Hillcrest and is rebuilding her identity in Jesus. She has grown bold in sharing her story, noting that it is a testimony of how God is revealing His love to her. This has propelled her to more involvement in life-giving activities honoring the Lord.

I’ve loved being on worship team," Halli noted. She is seeing that God has equipped her to share His love with others, and He is showing that His love is vast and spreads into every heart and soul. "Meeting people from all over the world, I love the relationship they have with Christ, and the community around the Hillcrest.”

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